What is giraffes natural habitat

Giraffes will move to where they need to to find food. Some people might assume that since giraffes feed on leaves high in trees, they would thrive better in thick and plentiful forests. The home range for a giraffe is between 8 and 50 square miles. While these areas of habitat often overlap with other groups, they will get along just fine with that, as they do not show territorial behavior.

A common problem though is that their natural habitat continues to be shrinking due to human activities, resulting in a smaller home range. As a result, they food sources are reduced.

Giraffes seem to thrive in areas where the climate is very hot. They also enjoy wide open spaces that allow them to see around for predator from a great distance. While giraffes graze around for food, they can quickly flee if they need to, so their habitat needs to be one that allows them to move around freely. The reticulated giraffe, also known as Somali Giraffa Giraffa reticulata , inhabits south of Ethiopia and Somalia as well as north-east Kenya. It lives in rainforests, forests, and savannas in these regions.

According to estimations around specimens live in zoos around the world being one of the most common species found in these facilities. The South African Giraffe Giraffa giraffa giraffa or Cape giraffe, inhabits the north of that country, south of Botswana and Zimbabwe, and also southwest Mozambique.

About 12, individuals are currently living in the wild and around 45 in captivity. In the case of the Nigerian giraffe or West African giraffe Giraffa camelopardalis peralta , its distribution is limited to the southwest of Niger, and a few more are in natural reserves and national parks.

It is in danger of extinction, and there are only around individuals in the wild. If we go to South Sudan or southwest of Ethiopia, we can find the Nubian Giraffe Giraffa camelopardalis camelopardalis. Very few individuals live in zoos, and in the wild, it is unknown exactly how many survive but is estimated to be less than The Angolan giraffe or Namibian giraffe Giraffa camelopardalis angolensis dwells in the north of Namibia, and there is another population in the southwest of Botswana and Zambia, as well as western Zimbabwe.

It lives in savannahs and shrublands. A individual giraffe can join or leave the herd at any time and for no particular reason. Because giraffes are so widely scattered, it may seem that they do not keep in contact with each other, however, this is not true. A giraffes keen eyesight means they can keep an eye on their neighbours even at a distance.

Night is mostly spent lying down ruminating, especially in the hours after dark and before dawn. The rest of the time male giraffes are searching for a female giraffe to mate with. Giraffe herds do not have a leader and individual giraffes show no particular preferences for others in the herd. Young giraffes are never left alone, however, they are looked after in a kind of nursery group where the females help look after each others calves baby giraffes.

Giraffes spend up to half their time feeding and most of the remainder is taken up either by searching for food or slowly digesting what they have eaten. Sometimes giraffes sleep during the daytime, often while standing. Giraffes normally lie down only at night, tucking their feet under the body and usually keeping the head upright.

However, when a giraffe is sleeping, something it does only for just a few minutes at a time, it curves its neck around and rests its head on or near its behind. One of the most fascinating elements of giraffe behaviour is the duel between males fighting for mating partners. Giraffe duels are among the most extraordinary in the animal kingdom. Duels begin when two males approach each other and engage in rubbing and intertwining their necks.

It allows the opponents to assess each others size and strength. Often, necking alone is enough to establish dominance. If not, the rivals begin to exchange blows with their heads, using their short horns to tackle each other.

Each giraffe braces its front legs and swings its head upward and over its shoulder. If a blow lands solidly, the giraffe may stagger under the impact and in rare cases may even collapse onto the ground. More often the contest breaks off after a few minutes and the loser simply walks away.

The Giraffe breeding season can occur at any time during the year. However, births in the wild usually happen during the dry season and births in captivity can happen all year round. Giraffes reach sexual maturity in captivity at around 3 — 4 years old, however, in the wild, males do not usually breed until they are 6 — 7 years old. In contrast to the male breeding age, females must be physically larger to carry offspring.

When male giraffes are ready to breed, they begin the ritual combat over mates. Giraffes are non- territorial and a successful male giraffe will mate with receptive female giraffes whenever and wherever it finds them. Gestation period is usually 13 — 15 months and when a pregnant female giraffe is ready to give birth, she makes her way to a calving area that she will use throughout her life.

The moment of birth is dramatic, with the mother giraffe standing on all fours and the calf tumbling onto the ground. Remarkably, the calf is rarely injured by its fall. Newborn giraffes are often on their feet within 20 minutes and are soon feeding on their mothers milk. Calves can walk about an hour after birth and can run within 24 hours of birth. Giraffe calves are about 2 metres 6 feet tall at birth and weigh — pounds. Giraffe calves grow about 3 centimetres tall each day during the first week and double their height in their first year.

By the age of one year giraffe calves can measure 10 feet tall. Giraffe calves are weaned at one year and become fully independent by 15 months of age. Female giraffe calves are fully grown by age five and male giraffe calves by the age of seven. Young giraffes may suckle for up to a year, however, they start to sample plants just a few weeks after birth. Giraffe calves are ready to leave the protection of their mother after 15 — 18 months of development.

Adult giraffes generally have no predators other than lions and humans, as their huge hooves are very effective in defending against predators. Giraffes are more vulnerable when they are lying down or drinking, because this gives lions the opportunity to leap up and seize them by the nose or throat. Newly born calves are at much greater risk. Despite their mothers best efforts to protect them, over 50 percent of all giraffe newborns are killed by hyenas and big cats such as lions and leopards during the first month of their life.

In captivity, giraffes have lived over the age of 30 years, however, their maximum life span in the wild is about 25 years. Giraffes have two ways of moving, a loping walk and a gallop. When they walk, the giraffes move both feet on one side of their body in unison, followed by both feet on the other side.

When they run, giraffes move the front feet together, then the back feet, swinging the hind feet up and planting them in front of the forefeet. While running, the neck of a giraffe moves backward and forward to keep the animal balanced.

Giraffes have a top speed of about 56 kilometres per hour 35 miles per hour , however, because its legs are so long a galloping giraffe does not appear to be going very fast. Giraffes are not great travelers, despite their long legs. Giraffes cannot walk over swampy ground because their hooves quickly sink and they very rarely wade across rivers.

Giraffes on opposite banks of a river may never come into contact, unless the water levels drop. For giraffes, bending down is a daily challenge. To reach ground level for example, when drinking a giraffe has to splay its front legs at an angle of almost 45 degrees.

A giraffes circulatory system is also specially modified, because the high pressure needed to pump blood up to its head could cause brain damage when the head is lowered. To deal with this problem, giraffes have elastic blood vessels that relieve some of the excess pressure. Giraffes also have a series of valves in their neck veins that ensure that blood always flows from the head back towards the heart, even when this means going against gravity.

When giraffes do bend down to drink at water holes, it is commonly done in pairs. This is so that one giraffe can drink, whilst the other keeps an eye open for predators. Giraffes are usually silent although they can bellow, grunt or snort when alarmed, as when confronted by lions, and can also moo in distress.

Hold your mouse over the giraffe photo and you may be able to hear a giraffe grunt. Calves young giraffes bleat and make a mewing call, cows female giraffes seeking lost calves will bellow and courting bulls male giraffes may emit a raucous cough.